Celestial Fate
by EternaPhoenix
Summary: He's a resident of Planet Earth. She's a resident of World of Elrios. Living in totally different world, yet Fate decided to bring these two together, in other to connect their worlds to each other so that beings from different sides may unite...before the real darkness descends as the harbinger of doom to the universe.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! Phoenix here. I'm a new fanfiction writer so I'm looking forward to cooperating with you guys! I decided to start writing fanfics because 1. I have wild fantasies, 2. I love Elsword a lot (even though the salt is so real in game) and 3. I was influenced by my friend (redsticker007, narcissist who always calls himself fabulous :p don't hit me please) to get up on my lazy ass and express my ideas that have been locked up for so long XD. I'm sure there's a ton of grammar mistakes for my story below and I apologize for that. Please feel free to rate and review as well as give me advises on how to write my story better cause I'm still a newbie in this stuff .. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Elsword and the characters in that game. I only own plot of my own story and my original characters (which I've created by referring to other games XD)

Classes:

Elsword-Lord Knight

Aisha-Elemental Master

Rena-Grand Archer

Raven-Reckless Fist

Chung-Tactical Trooper

Eve-Code Nemesis

Add-Mastermind

Elesis-Grand Master

Ara-Asura

Lu-Noblesse

Ciel-Dreadlord

Phantom-?

Maxwell-no class yet

Chapter 1

20 FEBRUARY 2157, LOCATION: RESTRICTED AREA CODE L108, FORMALLY KNOWN AS HASHIMA ISLAND, JAPAN.

 _Tap tap tap._

In the midst of darkness, soft sounds of footsteps echoed loudly throughout the dark corridor of the abandoned research laboratory. The source of it traces back to a silhouette who's walking down deeper into the core of laboratory, only the shape of his cloak and red lenses glow from his mask can be seen in the darkness.

"Maxwell, how close are we to the sources of energy spike that we scanned just now?" A deep voice whispered softly from the figure.

Responding to the voice, a mini hologram of a male human appeared on the right shoulder of the figure. The avatar appearance resembles a Japanese high school delinquent-loose uniforms along with a headset resting on its shoulder. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) then swipe its right hand across the air, projecting a few more screens of data in front of the silhouette.

" According to my calculations, we should be able to arrive at the first source in the testing lab R101 in 1 minute, while the other source was gathered in lab R158, which I estimated us to arrive there by 3 minutes of walk from here."

Nodding to acknowledge what his AI just informed of him, Maxwell shut off the projections and sat down on the figure's shoulder as he continue to proceed moving along the dark corridors, until he sensed something coming from the front.

"My radar's just picked up movements in front of us approximately 200 meters ahead-"

"I already know. I sensed it already without using the radars."

Hearing that, Maxwell grumbled a little in annoyance.

"What's the point of having a radar to scan when you have your freakin' extraordinary sense then? Tch."

"Radar's built in for more precautions and scan targeted objects to get detailed information. I can't just rely on my senses alone, its too dangerous."

"Pssh, right. Too dangerous. I doubt anyone can even sneak pass you, who was dubbed as the most strongest ESP, Phantom _-sama_ "

Sensing something coming closer to them as seconds passed by, Phantom pulled out two cuboid devices from his back, each in one hand. He then pressed a button for both devices, and they each transformed into about 50 centimetres long guns. On his left hand, a plasma shotgun -angular and metallic,with some parts held together by energy fields which shows blue highlights along its body. On his right, an energy assault rifle—similar to the plasma shotgun, it possess angular design and metallic casing, and it also appears to be held together, at least partly, by energy fields. The only difference it has compared to the shotgun is that it has a more detailed scope and red coloured energy highlights that runs through the gun chamber in the middle.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to be cocky in any situation, no matter who you are, Maxwell? I recommend you to shut your trap right now and focus on what's coming before I input virus into your coding and torture you."

The AI pouted.

"Yeesh, I was just trying to lighten the mood here….you're no fun master. Alright alright, I'll be serious. Targets ETA at our position in 30 seconds."

Upon hearing that, Phantom lowered his stance and brought up his weapons to aim in front of him. He unlocked the safety buttons and prepare to fire at any hostiles that might be coming.

 _Tap tap tap. Growl. Tap tap tap. Growl. Squeal._

As the movements in front of him became louder, he can hear running footsteps and growls from hostile beings that encountered before. But what confused him is….an animal's squeal too? _Sounds like a dog or puppy,_ he thought.

"Scanning targets….15 in total. Excluding that one target in front of the group behind. For some reason I am unable to identify that particular target, but it seems to be chased by 14 Infecteds and 1 Haunter. ETA 15 seconds." Maxwell reported.

Infecteds. During the year 2146, a virus infection-or more like mutated plant spores spread all across the world, infecting living beings and turning them similar to zombies just like in the movies. While most of the infection problem was solved 1 year back then, there was still a few places that haven't been cleared off of the infection problems, and these places are restricted by the United Nations Esper Council.

On the other hand, Haunter. A term used to describe supernatural beings that came from another world. On the very same year where infection started globally, these beings—dark purple coloured with irregular body shapes and able to levitate in air—came out randomly from portals throughout the earth. Having high intelligence as well, these beings came out of nowhere to feed on living souls in many methods—possession until the host dies, straight forward physical attacks, mind control against weak victims or psychic assaults, so on and so forth. They've caused pandemonium globally, but their problems was mostly solved too 1 year ago. Though there would occasionally still be a few lingering ones wandering around in restricted areas.

Then there's this target that Maxwell couldn't identify. _Can't be identified? That's strange. Maxwell is a super AI that I created myself and surpassed all other AIs in this world. Not a single one can rival him in any features or aspects at all. So why?_

Phantom mentally shook his head and decided to ignore this problem first. _I'll just have to face it head-on and see what is that unidentified target._

 _Tap tap tap. GROWL. GROWL. Tap tap tap. GROWL. Squeal._

 _5…4…3…2…1. They're here!_

As the shadows in front of Phantom came close, he managed to identify what he's facing. A fox being chased around by Infecteds and Haunter. But the odd thing about the fox is that it has nine tails.

 _What the heck is that?_

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 _Uwah! Eun! Is there nothing we can do other than run?!_

Ara screamed in her head as she—no, they are getting chased around by unknown beings.

 _ **Unfortunately Child, after we are stuck in this nine-tails puppy form we are lacking of strength and power to fight back against these strange creatures.**_

 _What are those things anyways?! Most of them looks like humanoid kinda thing but they look gross! Just look at those fleshy-thingy around their bodies! And that purple horrifying ghost?! Uwahh, run fast Eun!_

 _ **Easy for you to say child. This puppy form lacks so much strength that its hard for me to run properly! And plus I'm the one running while you're in our body screaming frantically and doing nothing else! Besides, whose fault do you think it is that put us in this position in the first place?!**_

 _Ehehehe…..I'm sorry…..ehehe…._

 _~Some time ago~_

 _LOCATION: VELDER'S HALLUCINATION_

" _Ha…ha…."_

After a long, hard-fought battle against Joaquin, the El-Gang finally managed to achieve victory and break out of the hallucination spell that Joaquin has casted on them. In the battlefield, most El-gang members were either sitting down on the ground resting or using their weapons to support their weight from collapsing due to exhaustion.

"Good job….guys…..we won…."

The leader of El-gang-Elsword Sieghart, the red-headed knight laid down on the ground while raising his right hand up in the air, giving his team members a thumbs up and complimenting them for completing their mission in getting rid of Joaquin and his mischievous plan.

"Who would've thought…..that Joaquin will have such an elaborate plan…..to stop us from disrupting the demon's invasion plan….hah…"

Sitting on the Destroyer, Chung Seiker took in large deep breaths to help him recover the oxygen he lost from moving around so much in his heavy equipments.

"Well…the most important thing is that …we won…right? Wait a minute…what's that?"

Ara Haan, the female martial artist who was using her spear as a support to stand, noticed something in the middle of the battlefield. A dark El shard fragment was glowing above a sigil on the ground, seemingly to react with it and creating a small dark sphere in the air.

"Careful Ara, you will never know what will happen if you get too close with it."

Another red-headed knight-this time a female one-Elesis Sieghart, sister of Elsword and also the leader of Velder Red Knights, warned Ara as she was getting close to the dark sphere for closer inspection.

"Yeah, I will be careful not to get too close-"

 _ **Child! Watch your step!**_

"Eh?"

Before Ara could react to what Eun said, her left foot step tripped over a rock and she lost balanced, making her stumble forward.

"W-w-w-wah!"

"ARA!"

As she fell forward, her outstretched hand touched the dark sphere, making it burst into dark rays, alarming the entire El-gang to shout for her name. But before she could even register what has happened, her vision was clouded over by darkness.

~Current time~

 _ **Sigh, if only you weren't such an airhead child.**_

 _I'm sorry…._

Ara mentally cried.

 _ **Forget it child, for the time being we need to focus on escaping thi-Damn! There's another one in front of us?!**_

 _What?!_

Looking ahead, Ara saw a hooded figure holding two long guns aiming at their direction.

 _This is bad! We're trapped-_

Before Ara could say anything else, she was cut off by a loud BANG! That came from one of the guns.

 _E-eh? We're alright?_

 _ **It seems so, child. Look behind us.**_

As Eun turn her head around, Ara saw one of those humanoid-mutant-thing fell limp on the ground.

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Shooting down one of the Infected, Phantom rushed past the tiny fox and pulled his shotgun trigger at three of the incoming Infecteds, to which his shotgun responded with sending out a burst of scattered energy bullets at the hostiles and blasting them to pieces instantly.

Seeing another three Infecteds die, the Haunter at the back of the Infecteds sent out a psychic wave to the remaining group of Infecteds, controlling them to focus their target on the most dangerous one first-Phantom. At once, the last ten of these beings who was once humans rushed at the masked silhouette under the command of the Haunter.

Before they could reach Phantom, however, he pulled out a small, octagon orange cuboid—a Pulse Grenade—and pressed a button on it, throwing it into the middle front of the coming Infecteds. Upon contact with one of the torso of Infecteds, the grenade burst into a large sphere vacuum, pulling five of the Infecteds at the front into the vacuum, and then the vacuum explodes into orange particles of energy, incinerating the creatures in the process.

Phantom then quickly switch back to two of his gun and aim at the coming enemies-shotgun to the left and assault rifle to the right-and pulled the triggers simultaneously. Responding to their master's action, the shotgun again sent out a burst of scattered energy ammunitions that blew the some the creatures to pieces, while the energy assault rifle sprays out a rain of mini-lasers that hit each target its master aims with perfect precision, bringing death to the coming hostiles in no time.

In just ten seconds, all Infecteds are brought down to rest for eternity. Knowing that the situation is unfavourable for it, the Haunter shot out a ball of dark energy at Phantom, attempting to distract the masked fighter so that it has time to run. However, Phantom simply sidestepped and allow the ball of energy to explode behind him, before he dashed forward with inhuman speed and reached the front of Haunter in less than one second. Not giving it time to react, Phantom used the butt of his assault rifle to smash the Haunter down to the ground, creating a large dent and cracks on the ground. He then mercilessly brought his shotgun to aim at the Haunter at point-blank range and went for the kill, blasting it to pieces until it couldn't even be recognised as what it is anymore.

With his one of his job done, Phantom pressed a button for each of his weapons, returning them to cuboid devices and kept them away before walking towards the fox.

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 _W-woah, he is strong!_

 _ **Indeed. He handled everything professionally. Looks like he is a veteran on the battlefield.**_

Ara and Eun was amazed by the skills the figure performed. After all, he did clean up a group of enemies by himself within fifteen seconds. However, as they saw him coming towards them, Eun tensed up and stood on a guarding stance.

 _Eun? What's wrong?_

 _ **Though he might have saved us, it doesn't mean that he will definitely bring any harm to us. Its best to stay on guard and see what he might do.**_

 _E-eh? Really? He seems like a good guy….and he somehow feels a bit…familiar?_

 _ **What nonsense are you blabbering about child? Never judge a book by its cover. Beside, this person wears a mask and made him look even more suspicious. Here he comes!**_

As the figure came close enough, he knelt down and inspected the nine-tails fox-which is currently in a puppy form-carefully. Ara used this opportunity and took a good look at their saviour's face, well, mask. A blank white mask with two red eye sockets. Suddenly the figure spoke up.

"Do you understand human language?"

This came as a bit of surprise to Ara and Eun. Normal person doesn't ask any creature or pet-however weird they are- this type of question anywhere in Elrios. So why did he ask so?

"Well, I was about to say you've gone crazy, Master. People doesn't usually ask this question to an animal, you know."

"Don't act dumb as to why I asked this question, Maxwell. While Infecteds usually went after any living beings as their prey, Haunter only goes after those that they are interested in, meaning those have higher soul energy like humans. They typically ignore small animals because they are useless in their perspective. Plus, not only this fox have nine tails, which isn't the case for normal foxes, it has quite a high reading of soul energy in your scan isn't it? All this leads me to think: if supernatural things could happen, then does that mean some myths of old stories-such as the Celestial Nine-tailed Fox-are real? So let me ask you again, do you know human language, foxy? If you understand what I'm asking right now, just nod your head."

The stranger's conversation with that holographic human and his deductions completely made Ara flabbergasted. He managed to figure out that Ara and Eun-though in an innocence puppy form—understands human language. Even though this person isn't sure if they understand humans or not completely, he did manage to guess their identity as the Celestial Spirit. Though, Ara was a human and Eun is the Celestial Spirit, and its just that Ara and Eun's soul merged together, occasionally making some people mistaking them as one and identifying Ara as the Nine-Tailed Fox instead.

 _Seems like we have no choice but to admit it, Eun._

Sighing mentally, Eun nodded her head in reponse to the masked person's question.

"If that's so, can you speak human language?"

"… **.Yes."**

"Whoa, it speaks?"

"Shut the hell up, Maxwell. You just keep quiet for the time being. If you don't mind, can you answer some question for me, foxy?"

While Maxwell looks surprised, the masked person doesn't even have any signs of being shocked at all. _**How intriguing.**_

" **Firstly, I have a name and its Eun. Secondly, I won't answer your question unless you introduce yourself."**

 _Isn't that a bit harsh…Eun?_

 _ **I'm just being alert, that's all. We can't just simply play by his rule while he doesn't even release any information to us. Besides, I'm the one doing talking because not only you're no good around strangers, but you can't even talk in this form as well. So I can speak whatever I have on mind for now while you just keep quiet, child.**_

 _Uuuuu….I'm sad that you talk to me like that._

Ara mentally cried again.

"…..you can call me Phantom. Good enough?"

" **Fair enough, human. Now what do you want from me?"**

"Where did you come from and what is your purpose here?"

Without even wasting a second, Phantom asked direct questions while staring at Eun through the red eye lenses of his mask.

" **I was in Velder previously, and thanks to a certain someone who triggered something, I was transported to this place. I'm trying to find my way back to Velder as I ran into those beings and….you."**

Phantom pondered a second before he talked again.

"First things first, theirs is no such a place called Velder here."

" **Pardon…?"**

 _Eh?_

Both Eun and Ara got confused for a second.

" **I'm pretty sure the place I came from is called Velder."**

Eun replied, staring directly at the Phantom. Phantom inspect a little longer at Eun and spoke up.

"You don't look and sound like you're lying. No matter, the place we're at currently is Restricted Area Code L108, or formally known as Hashima Island. Ever heard of this name before?"

" **..No."**

"Then my let me ask you one more question, when you said you're trying to find your way back to this place called Velder, do you mean you're trying to go to the room on the right, down the corridor where there is a source of energy?"

"… **That is correct. I sensed a familiar energy and I intended to check it out to find a way back."**

"Very well. Then you might have to follow me as my objective was to check out what is in that room as well."

Without saying another word, Phantom just stood up and turned around, expecting Eun to follow him as he continued his way to Lab Room R158. This action, however, irritates Eun a little.

 _ **This human….acting all bossy just because he saved us and know our objectives….and now he's trying to order us around?**_

 _Now now, Eun, calm down. I'm sure he's only trying to help us too._

Ara attempted to calm down Eun but to no avail as Eun is still irritated as she stormed behind Phantom.

" **Human, early you said this is a restricted area, so why are you here? Isn't it wrong for you to be here?"**

"Actually, I have the rights to be here. All I can tell you is that I'm trying to find something. That's all."

" **Find wh-"**

"We're here."

Phantom abruptly cut off Eun as they arrived at the destination, which fuels Eun's irritation more.

 _ **I swear this imbecile gets on my nerve.**_

 _Ahaha…calm down Eun…_

Ara could only mentally sweatdrop.

As they enter the lab room, one particular object in the middle of the room caught their attention. In Phantom's perspective, there was a familiar crystal of some sort-he swore he has seen it somewhere before-levitating in the middle of the room, surrounded by a dark sphere and has sigils engraved on the floor below.

 _Aha! We've found it Eun! Now we can go home!_

 _ **Indeed child.**_

"Scanning target, energy level showed similar result to a Spawner, or in other words, portals that Haunter used to travel through different dimensions. However, Master, there's a twist to this thing." Maxwell reported as soon as he finished scanning the object in front of them.

"A twist?" Phantom questioned.

"Yes, if you would look at this-" Maxwell swiped across the air with both of his hand and summoned out holographic screens in front of Phantom.

"This object, though has similar energy level to a Spawner, contains a much more intense and purer substance that a Spawner does not have. Besides, it also contains slipstream space or in short, slipspace properties."

"Slipspace…? This is weird. If this is not a Spawner…what is it?"

" **Its called a Dark El Shard human. In this case, this is a pure Dark El Shard and is different from impure ones. We do not know how or why it creates a portal that transports us here, but I'm pretty sure if we touch that and activate it again, it should be able to get us home."** Eun explained to Phantom even though he still irritates her a little.

"We…? Us…?" Phantom was confused a little as to why Eun said that.

Eun at first wasn't going to explain the condition of merging of her soul and Ara's. But now that she accidentally let her tongue slip out hints about it, she tried to avoid the question.

" **Uh, ignore it. Its none of your concern."**

"I will because I just heard you said something else just now. Did I really just hear you saying that thing over there is an El Shard?"

" **Yes I did…but why?"**

Now Phantom is surprised.

"No way…it couldn't be..!"

Upon seeing Phantom's shocked expression, Maxwell asked, "Is something wrong master?"

Ignoring the question, Phantom ordered Maxwell to scan for residue information left in any of the devices in the lab. Maxwell only shrugged and complied, and results were produced very soon.

"Found one folder. Here Master."

Reading the information on the holographic screen projected in the air, Phantom's facial expression behind his mask turned into that of utter shock.

"No…they found a way back to that place…?! More importantly they are not eliminated completey?!"

"While I'm sure that you're shocked because this information connects back to that certain case….I would like to ask that should we stop that fox?"

Turning his head and looking at the direction Maxwell pointed, Eun was already standing very close to the dark sphere, reaching out her paws to touch the dark sphere. Before Phantom could react, the sphere released rays of darkness that covered the entire room. After a while, the darkness dissipates, but no one was in that room any longer. However, on one of the screens that Maxwell hacked through for information just now, there was a particular paragraph that was presented on the screen.

'On 30 of December 2156, we managed to find an escape route by referring to the expedition case to the unknown solar system on the year 2146. That expedition only happened because of the Slipstream Space gateway that suddenly appeared near Earth, but disappeared 4 weeks after the expedition team ended came back to Earth due to an accident. We did research into this gateway in attempt to find an escape route from the United Nations Esper Council (UNEC), and our hard work finally produced the results we wanted. We managed to secretly open back the gateway that the expedition team used years ago, and now we're headed over to that place to build up our organization again. That planet-according to the UNEC, is code-named Elrios.'

 **That's the end of first chappie! For some reason when I used my phone to check fanfic website doesn't allow me to use the star above the number for line break, so i had to use x instead. Also, my phone couldn't register some lines that i highlighted as italic. Is that just my phone or what? Lemme know if some of you can't see some lines in Italics. Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! The Phoenix is back! Before we start the chapter, I just wanted to inform you guys of the change of classes-Add's job is now Lunatic Psyker, Chung's an Iron Paladdin and Ciel is Royal Guard instead of Dreadlord. I decided to add in this particular change because I felt that it is more suitable for my story(s)? later on. Anyways, please do enjoy the following chapter as well as rate and review! I will also appreciate it if any of you guys give me advises on how to further improve my story as well as my English! Aites, enough of ramblings from me and let's move on to the main topic.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Elsword blah blah blah, if I ever do the lives of all f2p players in the game will be much more comfortable and easier *^***

Classes:

Elsword-Lord Knight

Aisha-Elemental Master

Rena-Grand Archer

Raven-Reckless Fist

Chung-Iron Paladdin

Eve-Code Nemesis

Add-Lunatic Psyker

Elesis-Grand Master

Ara-Asura

Lu-Noblesse

Ciel-Royal Guard

Phantom-Base class

Maxwell-no class yet

Chapter 2

20 FEBRUARY 2157, LOCATION: SOMEWHERE AMONG THE RUINS OF VELDER HALLUCINATION, LURENSIA, ELRIOS.

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Blink. Blink.

Blinking her eyelids and adjusting her eyes to the surrounding light intensities, Ara slowly sat up from the ground while holding her head with one of her hands as dizziness harassed her brain.

 _Ugh, where are we?_

 _ **Seems we are back in Velder, child.**_

Looking around, Ara could only see burned down ruins everywhere, recognizing the marks and signs as the place she battled Joaquin along with her comrades. Suddenly, she shivered as she felt a chill ran down her body.

 _Why do I feel so cold?_

 _ **Child…please be aware that you're not wearing any clothes.**_

 _Eh?_

Looking down at her body, only then Ara realised that she was wearing invisible clothing, exposing her naked, well-proportioned and slender figure to be visible to anyone around. A huge blush quickly spread across her face as she quickly use her hands to cover her body parts in embarrassment.

 _W-w-wa-where are my clothes?!_

 _ **I have no idea, child. It seems like you somehow lost it when we got transported to that other place.**_

 _Ah! This is bad….how can I walk around in this conditi—_

Before Ara could finish talking mentally to Eun, she felt something large ad warm covered her head and her body from behind. Turning her head behind, she saw a large grey hooded-cloak covered her body and a figure-full-body armoured with azure energy lines pulsating throughout the body armour, and the mask attached to a white coloured helmet with crimson line patterns-Phantom, standing behind her.

"You can have that for the moment."

Pink dust tinted her cheeks as Ara stuttered to thank the man who aided her.

"T-thank you."

As Ara wrap the cloak around her body, she heard a very faint mumble from Phantom, but she couldn't make out what he had just said clearly.

"….it's you….."

"Hm? Sorry?"

Shaking his head, Phantom tried to distract her from pursuing any further in asking him about what he had just whispered under his breath by asking her a question.

"Eun….is inside of you?"

Hearing that, Ara finally remembered that she have yet to introduce herself and her condition with Eun. Standing up on the ground, she bowed politely towards Phantom and started her introduction,

"Ah, I'm sorry I forgot to introduce my self! My name is Ara, Ara Haan. Thank you, sir Phantom for rescuing us! Actually, Eun is a celestial nine-tail fox as you have suspected, but due to certain conditions she's currently bound together with my soul through this hairpin."

Phantom took a glance at the silver hairpin Ara pointed at her hair.

"Sir Phantom-"

"Phantom. Just Phantom is enough."

Ara was about to say something when Phantom cut her off, telling her not to be so formal with him.

"Ah, alright then. I just wanted to say thank you again for helping us back then. Without you, we would never be able to come back here…."

 **"At the cost of you human stuck in this place though."**

Eun suddenly intervened their conversation as she turned into her physical millennium fox form—a small version one though—as she sat on Ara's shoulder and looked straight at Phantom.

"Now that you mention it, master and I are indeed stuck here in another world. What do we do, Phantom-sama?"

Phantom's holographic figure appeared on Phantom's shoulder, casually sitting on it while swinging his virtual legs in the air. As Phantom was about to command Maxwell to do something, Ara suddenly bowed down again and again and spoke up,

"Ah! I'm so sorry! If It weren't for me you wouldn't be here—wah!"

Due to her bowing too quick, Ara suddenly lost ther footing and stumbled forward, only to be met my Phantom's armoured hand's as they supported Ara's shoulder and kept her balanced.

"There's no need to apologize."

"B-but—"

Ara was about to say something else when Phantom and Maxwell sensed movements coming from their back. Being alert, he quickly pulled out his plasma shotgun and aimed it at the coming targets and warned Ara.

"Stay on guard, something's coming….humans?"

After years of experiences in different battles, Phantom easily distinguished the two red dots that's closing in on them shown by the projected holographic map.

 **"Its most likely Red Knight scouts. Maybe we caused a bit of commotion when we got transferred back, hence attracting their attention."**

And Eun's deduction was proven right as the two figures approached them, both wearing red and white armours with Velder's insignia on them, both putting their hands on the hilt of their swords as they stood a few meters away from Phantom, suspicious as to who is he.

"Halt! Who's there?"

Hearing their voices, Ara only popped out her head to respond to the scouts from Phantom's back as she was still a little embarrassed due to her only clothing being Phantom's cloak.

"R-red knights scouts? It's me! Ara Haan!"

"Miss Haan? You're back!"

The scouts immediately recognised Ara and lowered down their guards as the one at the front signalled his comrade to go and inform the El Search Party of Ara's return as quickly as possible. However, as his comrade went away, the red knight slowly grabbed the hilt of his sword as he came near Phantom, who kept his weapon away.

"May I ask who are you?"

But before he could respond, Ara has already helped him to answer that question.

"Ah, he's friendly! He saved me when I got into that trouble! If you don't mind, can I bring him to meet Vannessa and my friends as well?"

Deciding to trust Ara on the fact that Phantom is an ally, the scout agreed with a nod and relaxed his shoulders as he led Ara and Phantom back to Velder Militia Campsite, though the latter was more or less getting dragged by an overly excited klutz to the camp.

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20 FEBRUARY 2157, LOCATION: VELDER MILITIA CAMPSITE, BORDERNG VILLAGE OF VELDER PALACE, LURENSIA, ELRIOS.

As soon as they arrived at the campsite, Ara was tackled down by a Grand Archer who was overly worried about the disappearance of her friend, along with some warm embraces, handshakes and greets from her other teammates. Her clothes was soon returned by the hands of Elesis, who explained that her clothes was left on the ground while her body disappeared to somewhere else. Feeling a bit embarrassed, Ara quickly thanked Elesis and excused herself hurriedly to change into her clothes after briefly explaining the situation she had been through.

"Phantom right, thanks for helping Ara."

Turning to Phantom, Elsword offered a handshake to which Phantom just shook it briskly while staying silent.

"Hey, I helped out too."

Maxwell who appeared on Phantom's shoulder complained a little as he wanted to get recognition too. However, before Elsword could respond to Maxwell, Add already inched closer to Phantom to get a good look at Maxwell.

"Kukuku….how intriguing. This is quite a rare piece of specimen….kukuku…."

"Hey! I'm not a specimen, mind you, albino scientist freak. In any case, your devices look much more amusing...to disassemble them to pieces so I can run experiments and gain data on it, of course."

"Oho? An AI dares to challenge me? Now you're just demanding me to strip off every single piece of data off you now, aren't it?"

"Now now, knock it off, Add, let's not be rude to our guests now, okay?"

Rena, the blonde elf intervened the conversation, only to be responded with a "tch" by Add. Maxwell, on the other hand, looks pretty happy about the outcome and tried to mock Add.

"In your face, albino, I'm too fabulous for you to touch-"

"Maxwell. Shut. Your. Trap."

Phantom shot a death glare at Maxwell for his behaviour, to which it scared Maxwell until his avatar glitches a little and apologize quietly to the El Search Party. Seeing this, Elsword tried to change the tense atmosphere a little.

"Well, there's no need to apologize really since Add was a little rude to you guys to. Ah, now hat I think about it, I have yet to introduce ourselves properly have we? My name's Elsword Sieghart, leader of the El Search Party, nice to meet you."

Seeing this, the rest of the El gang members followed after Elsword and introduce theirselves.

"Hi! I'm Aisha, the world's future best magician!"

"Hello there, you can just call me Rena, nice to meet you!"

"Raven. Thanks for helping my comrade."

"You can address me as Eve. You have my gratitude in saving one of us."

"My name's Chung Seiker. It's a pleasure to meet you! Thanks a lot for helping Ara!"

"Hello, name's Elesis Sieghart, Elsword's sister as well as leader of the Red Knights. I appreciate you helping Ara out."

"Keke, name's Add. It would be nice you will let me study more of your equipments…kuku."

"Huhu, I'm Lu! Luciela R. Sourcream! I'm the one who's going to be the future demon queen!"

"Name's Ciel. Lu's butler. Pleasure to meet you."

 _No wonder I sensed different aura from these two. Demons exist in this world, huh,_ Phantom thought to himself before he proceeded to introduce himself formally.

"Just call me Phantom for now. And this guy on my shoulder here-"

"Maxwell! I'm the best AI ever created by my master! Sup' guys!"

"Kuku…someday I will inspect everything about you..keke."

"Oh and I dare you to try, albino freak."

As soon as Maxwell introduced himself, Add immediately showed an overly excited expression towards Maxwell, to which he got back a glare by the AI in return. Just then, a female with light-blue hair and wore a pair of spectacles walked into the camp, followed by Ara Haan who had finished changing her clothes. As soon as Ara saw Phantom, she hurried over and handed over the grey cloak to him while pink dust tinted her cheeks a little.

"Here, your cloak. Thanks for…uhm…helping me back there."

Phantom took back the cloak and put it back on again as the female with light blue hair stood forward to speak.

"Phantom right, name's Vanessa. I'm the Velder's Garrison Centurion, also the one in charge of this camp. While I hate to disturb your talks, I have some urgent news for the El Search Party."

The El Search Party immediately focused their attention on Vanessa as she continued her talk.

"I've just received a letter from Hamel, and they're requesting for reinforcement to counter react against the demon invasions. Even with Penesio, one of the famous Rune Slayer and a strong commander over there, are stuck in a tight spot due to the heavy losses of his men and the continuing invasion of demons. According to his letter, most Hamel's area has been overtaken by demons, and the only fortress left is the Hamel Capital."

Vanessa paused for a moment before speaking again.

"While we would like to help out Hamel's defences, just as you can see, Velder itself is not in a good shape either. We are lacking of a lot of manpower to help in rebuilding the kingdom as well as prepare for any sudden invasions. I know this is selfish of me to ask, but can the El Se-"

"We'll go."

"Eh?"

Before Vanessa could finish her request, Elsword already cut her off and gave her a solid response.

"Don't worry about it. We are the El Search Party remember? We fight for the world's peace! Plus, it is also one of our hometown isn't it? Then all the more to help out then!"

"Elsword…"

Chung looked at Elsword with a dumbfounded expression.

"Yea that's right, we aint' gonna let those demons have their way! I'll show them my how fearful my magic is!"

"Mhm, I as an elf am responsible to protect the El as well as the peace of the world. Also, nothing shall stop us from helping out our friend!"

"Hmp, I will do my best to atone my sins by helping out Hamel, I guess."

"As a Queen of Nasod, I wish to re-establish the bonds of Nasod kingdom and human kingdoms again. Therefore, I shall assist the crown prince of Hamel."

"Kek, don't take this the wrong way, blonde trap. I'm doing this cause I heard there's some interesting history and origins of your equipments there, kuku."

"Huhuhu, I can finally track down more of those imbeciles that dared to defy me as the real demon queen! I might also be able to establish peaceful bonds for demons and humans once I got my rightful throne!"

"I shall assist you in any way to help you reach your goal, milady."

"Yea, don't worry, Chung! We are all here to help! Plus I can get closer to find my brother if I help you to reclaim Hamel too!"

"You guys….thanks!"

Chung was touched as to how his comrades responded. Putting on a grin, he sincerely thanked his comrades for what they have done. However, no one noticed that Phantom was staring at Ara just now as she said her line. Just then, Elesis then stood forward.

"Vanessa, I have a request."

"No need to tell me. You are free to join the El Search Party if you want, Elesis. You've helped us here more than enough, and I couldn't thank you enough for your achievements in Velder."

Hearing this, Elsword couldn't help but jump in excitement.

"EH?! Sis, you're joining us! Yes! This is gonna be great!"

"Ahaha, I see you still haven't grown much, lil bro."

"Hey! I've grown a lot taller now alright! I'm much more stronger now too!"

"Still doesn't change the fact you're a little boy in my eyes."

This earned laughters from the group as well as a pouting Elsword. But Elsword soon remembered something and turned towards Phantom.

"Hey, now that I think about it, what are you going to do?"

Now the centre of attraction has turn to Phantom as he pondered a while.

 _Firstly I needed to find materials…while I have emergency ammunition production tools the supply to create the special ammunition isn't going to last more than a month…I also need to track down those guys…and find a way back to earth if possible. But, where do I start?_

"How about you join us for the time being?"

"Hm?"

Ara immediately add in after hearing Elsword's offer to Phantom.

"Yea…! You should! I mean, since you don't know anywhere here in this world, you need a guide right? Plus, we can help you to find a way back!"

 **"And also to help us out in the meantime against the demon invasion."**

Eun, who turned into her fox form and stayed on Ara's shoulder, also intervened at the conversation.

"Eh? B-but he has already helped us enough to get back here, and because of that he is stuck in this world instead!"

 **"Child, you do know that we need as much assistance as possible in this war against the demons and you have seen his strength already, have you not? Plus it isn't a bad deal right? We help him to find a way back while he help support us in return in this war, no?"**

"But—"

"I'll accept your offer."

"Phantom?!"

"Then, it's decided! Welcome to the team!" Elsword offered a handshake again to which Phantom accepted and shook it. Phantom then turned to Ara is wearing an expression of guilt.

"Don't worry about it."

"But….."

Seeing there's no way to persuade him, Ara gave up.

"Well…thanks…and sorry for troubling you more again…"

"Like I said, no problem."

"Now now, let's not be down now alright? Things will surely get better! Also, welcome to the team again, Phantom!"

The elven female came over and put an arm around Ara while trying to brighten up her mood. And Rena's actions succeeded as Ara put on a smile again and looked up at Phantom.

"You're right. Welcome to the team, Phantom! I'll make sure I'll help you in any way possible for you to return!"

Phantom only nodded to show appreciation while ignoring Maxwell and Add who were participating in a staring contest.

"Kukuku…now I have more chances to get my hands on your codes…keke."

"Hah, I dare you to try albino freak."

As they were getting along, Vanessa spoke up.

"Well, it's getting late now, and you guys have been through a tiring day. Why not you guys go on and rest? I will make sure my men to get everything ready for you so that you may be able to set out tomorrow for Hamel."

Agreeing to what Vanessa had said, they were led by Vanessa's men to the their respective rooms where they rested as silence drowned the night.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

21 FEBRUARY 2157, LOCATION: HAMEL PORT, OUTSKIRTS OF HAMEL CAPITAL, FLUONE, ELRIOS.

Time flies as the El-Gang departed from Velder to Hamel, and by the time they've reached the Hamel Capital it was already noon. Looking around, all they saw was a city that was literally built out of a huge rock overflowing with water; some kind of unknown geographical structure that none have ever encountered, and it was a marvellous sight for the eyes of the El Search Party members to feast on.

"Woah, Chung, this place is awesome!" Elsword was the first one to exclaim.

Chung could only smile while scratching his face a little with embarrassment. However, their moments of laughter was soon interrupted by the a group of Hamel Red Knights that came forward to escort the El-Gang and welcome the return of their crown prince.

"Attention! All hail the grand return of White Wolf of Hamel!"

While the El Search Party was a bit surprised by the actions of the Red Knights of kneeling down, Chung seemed to be quite embarrassed.

"Ah…its oka—I mean, at ease, men."

"Yes, your highness! Welcome home, you highness!"

As the Red Knights stood as a line beside, a man clad in black armor and wore a red scarf came forward and kneeled down before Chung.

"Your highness, it's an honour to see you yet again. Welcome home, your highness, and forgive my incapability that I'm unable to defend your kingdom. I would gladly accept any punishment from yo—"

"Enough, Penesio, please stand. It is not your fault that Hamel has…fall into this state. I swear upon my life, as the White Wolf of Hamel, I will reclaim our homeland again!"

"Your highness….!"

Penesio could only look at Chung with tears of joy forming at the ends of his eyes as he stood up. Even the soldiers at the side started cheering for Chung's return and influenced others around to gather and cheered for him, too.

"The prince has returned! Hamel will soon be reclaimed! All hail the mighty White Wolf of Hamel!"

While Chung tried to calm down his people, Elsword and others could only look at Chung with awe-with the exception of Eve maintaining a poker face as well as Phantom staying calm and acting normally. Elesis took this chance to stood forward to face Penesio.

"Hey Penesio, long time no see."

"Oh! Elesis! How wonderful it is to see you here again! Having the infamous Red-Haired Knight will surely be a great help to Hamel!"

"Ahaha, I'm not all that great, Penesio. But I'm certainly proud of my brother and his team and I'm happy enough to work with them to help others in need."

"Ah, the El Search Party, correct? I have been informed that you guys here will be coming as reinforcements, and it seems that everyone is strong too. This will surely-"

"Sir, report! We have a problem!"

Before Penesio could say anything else, he was cut off by a Red Knight scout that came to report something.

"What is it?"

"Some of our men near the frontlines have been affected by that again! And the situation is getting worse!"

"Tch…such timings."

"Is something wrong?"

Chung, who managed to calm down the local residents, came forward to Penesio as he saw a troubled look on his face.

"Your Highness…! I guess this is fine….your highness, will you and your comrades follow me? I need to show you a new problem that arose not long ago while you were gone. It's urgent. I will briefly describe the situation on the way."

Chung turned around to look at his comrades, to which all nodded their heads in agreement.

"Good. This way!"

As Penesio ran ahead and lead the El Search Party to the camps near the frontlines of battlefield, he started his explanation.

"Your highness, not long ago during the demon invasion, some of our men looked tired and sick. At first we thought they are just lacking of antibodies against illnesses, but a few days later they all suddenly turned to become…something horrible. They looked lifeless, and something that looked like spores spread across their bodies. They even go wild and turned against their own comrades. Those who have been bitten by these…things, started to undergo a painful process in their bodies for 1 to 3 hours, and then they became one of those lifeless bodies as well. We couldn't find any cure to this thing, nor do we know the source of it affecting our men, and we end up have to end their lives...Your highness, I beg of your help to save our men!"

"I got it, let's just hurry there and see what we can do. After all, my comrades are capable people, am I right?"

"Heck yeah, you're absolutely correct! Nothing can stop us….Ara? What's wrong?"

Elsword was boasting about the El Search Party's strength when he noticed Ara had a slightly shocked expression on her face. Ara ignored Elsword's question and turned to Phantom.

"Phantom…why does what Sir Penesio sounds like what we've encountered…?"

"Eh?"

This time, the entire party got confused for a second and looked at Phantom while their feet continue to bring them to their destination as quickly as possible.

"…I'm cannot be certain. But it does sounds like it…"

It was then when Phantom sensed the hostile presences as well as non-hostile ones, but he still refuses to believe the truth.

"We're almost there..!" Penesio informed the team.

"Phantom-sama…how…no, why are they here?"

Maxwell, who was now standing on Phantom's shoulder, broadcasted a radar that gave out red and blue dot signals. Phantom, however, could not answer that question as he himself was asking the same question in his heart.

"We're here!"

As soon as they arrived, the view that entered their retinas was the truth that Phantom tried to deny of. Red Knights swinging their sword around against what used to be their comrades, now lifeless, with spores growing all over the bodies and blood bleeding in every part of the body, as well as mutated limps.

 _No._

 _It couldn't be._

 _It should only exist in our world._

 _This problem._

 _So why?_

These questions echoed in Phantom's mind as he look at the situation in front of him again.

 _Infecteds._

 **OH MY GOD I ACTUALLY FINISHED A CHAPTERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR. Okay I'm going nuts. I apologize very very much for the late update . I swear I had the worst writer's block ever for this chapter as well as too much work irl that keeps distracting me. I swear that I wasn't procrastinating in sparring room and that I aint lazy. Trust me. Please…..;-;. Anyways this chapter felt a bit boring imo. Hopefully I can write better next time and update sooner :/. Well, again, R &R! I need more advises on how to write better! See ya guys soon!**


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